Résumé: Marine intrusion was simulated in a choked and in a restricted coastal lagoon by using a 3D-hydrodynamic model. To study the spatiotemporal progression of seawater intrusion and its mixing efficiency with lagoon waters we define Marine Mixed Volume (V-MM) as a new hydrodynamic indicator. Spatial patterns in both lagoons were described by studying the time series and maps of VMM taking into account the meteorological conditions encountered during a water year. The patterns comprised well-mixed zones (WMZ) and physical barrier zones (PBZ) that act as hydrodynamic boundaries. The choked Bages-Sigean lagoon comprises four sub-basins: a PBZ at the inlet, and two WMZ's separated by another PBZ corresponding to a constriction zone. The volumes of the PBZ were 2.1 and 5.4 millions m(3) with characteristic mixing timescale of 68 and 84 days, respectively. The WMZ were 123 and 433 millions m(3) with characteristics mixing timescale of 70 and 39 days, respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Résumé: A large spectrum of coastal lagoon types with a wide range of environmental conditions is observed along the French Mediterranean coast. These comprise wide trophic and salinity gradients, ranging from oligotrophic to hypertrophic status, and from nearly freshwater to slightly above marine Mediterranean Sea water salinities, respectively. The statistical analysis of a long-term dataset, including water column variables and observations of macrophyte genera, showed that salinity, depth, and then trophic status, were important factors explaining the distribution of benthic macrophytes for the soft-bottom sediments in the 34 studied French Mediterranean lagoons. Based on this, we assumed that the vegetation succession along the eutrophication gradient was different according to the lagoon salinity ranges. Euhaline and polyhaline lagoons follow the well-known Schramm schematic model, where aquatic angiosperm such as seagrasses dominate under oligotrophic conditions, and opportunistic macroalgae and phytoplankton dominate under eutrophic and hypertrophic conditions. In oligohaline and mesohaline lagoons, the succession is probably an intermediate scheme between the successions observed in small temperate lakes and in marine coastal ecosystems due to the presence of both brackish and freshwater species. We thus propose a conceptual scheme for the oligohaline and mesohaline lagoons.

Résumé: Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1 mu var) infection has caused significant mortalities in juvenile oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In contrast to the practices of other animal production industries, sick and dead oysters are not separated from live ones and are left to decay in the surrounding environment, with unknown consequences on fluxes of dissolved materials. A laboratory approach was used in this study to test the influence of oyster mortality episode on dissolved inorganic fluxes at the oyster interface, dissociating (i) the effect of viral infection on metabolism of juvenile oysters and (ii) the effect of flesh decomposition on oxygen consumption and nutrient releases at the individual scale. Nine batches of juvenile oysters (Individual Total wet weight 1 g) were infected via injection of OsHV-1 enriched inoculums at different viral loads (108 and 109 OsHV-1 DNA copies per oyster) to explore infection thresholds. Oysters injected with filtered seawater were used as controls (C). Oysters were maintained under standard conditions to avoid stress linked to hypoxia, starvation, or ammonia excess. Before, after the injection and during the mortality episode, i.e. at days 1, 3, 7, 10 and 14, nine oysters per treatment were incubated in individual metabolic chambers to quantify oxygen, ammonium and phosphate fluxes at the seawater-oyster interface. Nine empty chambers served as a reference. Injections of the two viral loads of OsHV-1 induced similar mortality rates (38%), beginning at day 3 and lasting until day 14. The observed mortality kinetics were slower than those reported in previous experimental pathology studies, but comparable to those observed in the field (Thau lagoon, France). This study highlights that oxygen and nutrient fluxes significantly varied during mortality episode. Indeed (i) OsHV-1 infection firstly modifies oyster metabolism, with significant decreases in oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion, and (ii) dead oysters lead to a strong increase of ammonium (6 fold) and phosphate (41 fold) fluxes and a decrease in the N/P ratio due to mineralisation of their flesh. The latter may modify the structure of the planktonic community in the field during mortality episode. This study is a first step of the MORTAFLUX program. The second step was to in situ confirm this abnormal nutrient loading during a mortality episode and show its impact on bacterio-, phyto-and protozoo-plankton. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

2012

Résumé: The aim of this survey was to test a standardised method to follow the demographic evolution of a dense aggregative 'forest' population of the temperate gorgonian Eunicella verrucosa (Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae) using in situ photographic recordings. Distribution, density, growth and demographic evolution of the colonies was compared along two parallel transects. Computer treatment allowed the estimation of the total branch fan surface area, and the individual growth of tagged colonies was determined by measuring the increase in this surface area, using consecutive photographs taken at two-year intervals. To integrate the potential bias of branch overlapping, we proposed a correction factor between the in situ photographic surface area and the surface area of the gorgonian calculated from ex situ photographic surface area with all branches deployed. The surface-frequency distribution of colonies was converted to estimated-age-frequency distribution using an estimated growth curve based on the net growth rate. The technique used revealed significant differences in population structure and the dynamics of gorgonian colonies, as the two transects appeared to be influenced by different environmental conditions. The recruitment also seemed to vary according to year and transect, resulting in different densities. Our work showed clear results in characterising the variations of gorgonian demographic evolution at a small spatial scale; thus, it is assumed that this method could be a sustainable tool for coastal environmental managers.

Résumé: The food web of two intertidal seagrass (Zostera marina and Zostera noltii) beds that may be influenced by the seasonal variation in food source abundance was studied in winter and in summer with delta(13)C and delta(13)N analysis. In spite of high relative variation of abundance of main primary producers at the two sites, the food web did not vary between winter and summer. The delta(13)C range of primary producers was wide. Zostera leaves, the most (13)C-enriched source, were not consumed directly by grazers. Deposit and filter feeders have a similar delta(13)C and could use a mix of suspended and sedimented organic particulate matter, largely composed of detritus from macroalgae to seagrass. This trophic pathway allows the local incorporation of the high biomass produced by seagrasses. The wide delta(15)N range of predators was linked either to a large variety from omnivore to carnivore predators or to the also wide ranges of delta(15)N of primary consumers.